Second Annual Class Action Case Law and Practice Review Conference

• Western Alliance Bank (2020-2021)

• Technology Concepts & Design, Inc. (TCDI) (2020-2021)

• Ankura Consulting Group 
• The Moskowitz Law Firm 
• Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca, LLP

• Morgan & Morgan 
• Neblett, Beard & Arsenault

• EpiqGlobal 
• Angeion

Thursday, November 11, 2021 - Jacob Burns Moot Courtroom, GW Law School, 2000 H Street, NW. 

7:45 am – 8:45 am: Breakfast

8:45 am – 9:00 am: Opening Remarks

• Professor Roger Trangsrud, George Washington University Law School
• John Rabiej, Consultant, James F. Humphreys Complex Litigation Center

9:05 am – 10:35 am: Panel 1 – Alleged Statutory Privacy-Rights Violations Class Actions

• (Moderator) Professor Roger Trangsrud, George Washington University Law School
• Tony Weibell, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
• Jay Edelson, Edelson PC
• Paul Karlsgodt, Baker Hostetler
• William Andrichik, Steptoe & Johnson
• Tim Blood, Blood Hurst & O’Reardon LLP
• Hon. Paul Grimm, District of Maryland
• Hon. Andrea Wood, N.D. Illinois

10:35 am − 10:50 am: Break

10:50 am − 12:20 pm: Panel 2 – Attorney's Fee Awards in Consumer Fraud Cases and No-Injury Class Actions

• (Moderator) Professor Linda Mullenix, University of Texas School of Law
• Julianna McCabe, Carlton Fields
• Andy Trask, Shook Hardy & Bacon
• Ron Austin, Ron Austin Law
• Lynne Kizis, Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, P.A.
• Hon. Gary Feinerman, N.D. Illinois
• Hon. Katherine Parker, S.D. New York

12:20 pm – 1:35 pm: Lunch

1:35 pm – 3:05 pm: Panel 3 – Early Vetting of and Motions to Strike Class-Action Individual Allegations

• (Moderator) Professor Laura Hines, University of Kansas School of Law 
• Dan Bryson, Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman PLLC
• Adam Polk, GirardSharp
• Robin Sumner, Troutman Pepper
• Hayden Coleman, Dechert
• Jeff Wilkerson, Winston & Strawn
• Hon. Andrea Wood, N.D. Illinois
• Hon. Eric Tostrud, District of Minnesota (Virtual)

3:05 pm – 3:20 pm: Break

3:20 pm – 4:50 pm: Panel 4 – Review of Draft Proposed 2020 Best Practices – Bifurcated Discovery; Settlement Checklist

• (Moderator) Professor Alan Morrison, George Washington University Law School
• Michael Shortnacy, King & Spalding
• Amy Keller, Dicello Levitt & Gutzler
• Frederic Fox, Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP
• Michael O’Connor, EpiqGlobal
• Aaron Van Oort, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
• Hon. Katherine Parker, S.D. New York

5:00 pm - 6:30 pm: Reception at GW Law School (Sponsored by Western Alliance Bank)

Friday, November 12, 2021: Jacob Burns Moot Courtroom, GW Law School, 2000 H Street, NW.

8:30 am − 9:45 am: Panel 5 – Cy Pres Awards – Phoenix-Like Reemergence and Allocation of Interest Accrued on Undistributed Settlement Funds

• (Moderator) Professor Roger Trangsrud, George Washington Law School
• Mary Massaron, Plunkett Cooney
• Barbara Hart, Grant & Eisenhofer
• Jeffrey Jacobson, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
• Niki Mendoza, Phillips ADR
• Michael O’Connor, EpiqGlobal
• Hon. Gene Pratter, E.D. Pennsylvania (Virtual)
• Hon. Jed Rakoff, S.D. New York (Virtual)

9:50 am – 10:50 am: Panel 6 – Review of Draft Proposed 2020 Best Practices – Objectors; Virtual Proceedings; Distribution-Payment Methods

• (Moderator) Professor Linda Mullenix, University of Texas School of Law
• Michael Shortnacy, King & Spalding
• Jeff Richardson, Digital Disbursements (Virtual)
• Robert Shelquist, Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP
• Christian Clapp, Angeion Group 
• Aaron Van Oort, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

10:50 am − 11:05 am: Break

11:05 am – 12:20 pm: Panel 7 - Judicial Consideration of Lead Plaintiffs' Ex Ante Fee Agreements and Parties' Fee Agreements

• (Moderator) Professor Laura Hines, University of Kansas School of Law
• Marc Gross, Pomerantz
• Anna St. John, Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute
• Paul Lockwood, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
• Elizabeth Cassady, Steptoe & Johnson
• James Harrod, Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossman LLP

12:20 pm: Adjournment and Grab-and-Go Snacks

After serving on the University of Chicago Law Review, Professor Roger Trangsrud clerked for Justice Walter Rogosheske of the Minnesota Supreme Court and practiced law with the DC firm of Hogan & Hartson. In 1982, he joined the faculty of the law school, where he has taught civil procedure, federal jurisdiction, remedies, and complex litigation. His writings are primarily in the fields of complex litigation and jurisdiction. Recently, he co-wrote a new casebook, Complex Litigation and the Adversary System, and a treatise on Complex Litigation: Problems in Advanced Civil Procedure.

Anthony (Tony) Weibell is a partner in the Palo Alto office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. He serves as lead litigation counsel for premier technology companies in diverse areas of complex civil litigation involving consumer class actions, privacy, e-commerce, intellectual property, antitrust, false advertising, and contractual disputes. He also advises companies on compliance with consumer protection, privacy, and internet law, such as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), the Wiretap Act, the Stored Communications Act, the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA), and other unfair competition and consumer protection laws.

Jay Edelson is the Founder and CEO of Edelson PC and host of the Non-Compliant podcast. He is considered one of the nation’s leading plaintiff’s lawyers, with his firm having secured over $3 billion in settlements and verdicts for his clients while serving as lead counsel (and over $16b in total). Law360 described Jay as a  “Titan of the Plaintiff’s Bar.”  Jay has been recognized as one of “America’s top trial lawyers” in the mass action arena. Jay has been appointed to represent state and local regulators on some of the largest issues of the day, ranging from opioids suits against pharmaceutical companies, to environmental actions against polluters, to breaches of trust against energy companies and for-profit hospitals, to privacy suits against Google, Facebook, Uber, Marriott, and Equifax.

Paul Karlsgodt serves as the leader of BakerHostetler’s Privacy and Digital Risk Class Action and Litigation team. He has significant experience defending class actions in the complex and cutting-edge area of data privacy on behalf of companies and organizations in a variety of industries, including the insurance, healthcare, consumer and education sectors. A thoughtful and trusted leader, he has served as lead counsel for defendants in class action litigation arising out of data breach incidents of all sizes, and affecting various industries and governmental entities. Paul has led or is leading the defense of more than a dozen different data breach class action matters over the past year alone, and has achieved success for clients in a number of high-stakes cases.

Bill Andrichik counsels clients through a wide variety of complex commercial challenges, helping navigate potential disputes and litigating active matters. He litigates in federal and state courts across the country, handling breach of contract, toxic tort and product liability claims, mass torts, and class actions. He also handles internal corporate investigations. Bill has served as first chair in trials in federal court, arbitrations, and in front of administrative review panels, and has extensive experience handling all aspects of litigation, including motion practice, fact and expert discovery, transmittal and use of HIPAA-protected and FERPA-protected information, depositions, trials, and appeals.

Mr. Blood is a co-founding partner and the firm’s managing partner. For almost thirty years, his practice has focused on complex litigation, including class action litigation. Mr. Blood has tried class action cases and is highly regarded in the field of consumer protection law, including California’s Unfair Competition Law and Consumers Legal Remedies Act. Before starting Blood Hurst & O’Reardon, Mr. Blood was a partner in Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, LLP and a founding partner in the firm now known as Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, LLP.

Judge Paul W. Grimm serves as a District Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. He was appointed to the Court on December 10, 2012. Previously, he was appointed to the Court as a Magistrate Judge in February 1997 and served as Chief Magistrate Judge from 2006 through 2012. In September, 2009 he was appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States to serve as a member of the Advisory Committee for the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Additionally, Judge Grimm is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Maryland School of Law, where he teaches evidence, and also has taught trial evidence, pretrial civil procedure, and scientific evidence. He also is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Baltimore School of Law, where he teaches a course regarding the discovery of and pretrial practices associated with electronically stored evidence.

The Honorable Andrea Wood has served as a federal judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois since 2013 when she was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. At the time she was sworn in, Judge Wood, then age 40, was the youngest federal judge in the country. Before her appointment, Judge Wood was Senior Trial Counsel at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Enforcement, in Chicago, where she began working as a senior attorney in 2004 before being promoted to senior trial counsel in 2007. Judge Wood also worked as an associate at the Chicago headquarters of Kirkland & Elllis LLP for five years. She began her legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable Diane Wood of the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Judge Wood earned her B.A. from the University of Chicago and her J.D. from Yale Law School.

Linda Mullenix holds the Rita and Morris Atlas Chair in Advocacy at the University of Texas School of Law. Professor Mullenix holds M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University in political science and graduated Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude, from the City College of New York. She received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center and practiced appellate litigation in Washington, D.C. She has held appointments as a Supreme Court Fellow at the Federal Judicial Center; was a scholar-in-residence at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Study and Conference Center in Italy; and also held the Fulbright Senior Distinguished Chair in Law in Trento, Italy. She has been a visiting professor at Harvard and Michigan Law Schools. Professor Mullenix has been a professor since 1974, teaching federal civil procedure, mass tort litigation, current issues in class action litigation, transnational class actions, aggregate and class action litigation in a global context, and state class action procedure. She also has taught complex litigation, federal courts, conflicts, professional responsibility, and civil justice reform.

Julianna Thomas McCabe is a class action litigator and appellate lawyer with experience representing life insurance companies and other clients in the financial services industry. In addition to her work in insurance and financial services, she defends clients across a range of other industries in consumer class actions, where her expertise is nationally recognized. Julianna has defended complex cases in high-stakes litigation, including punitive damage and bad faith lawsuits in Florida, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia, Georgia, Illinois, Washington, California, and other venues. She has prepared briefs filed in the U.S. Supreme Court, several U.S. Courts of Appeals, and in various state supreme courts and intermediate appellate courts.

Andrew focuses his practice on class action and complex litigation in various industries, including the automotive industry and financial services. Regarded as an authority in class action litigation, Andrew has experience in class actions involving product liability, consumer fraud, Civil RICO, telecommunications products, insurance, business litigation and contracts, banking, securities, ERISA, antitrust and environmental claims. He also has defended mass tort cases involving financial regulations, as well as government investigations and data breach matters.

Attorney Ron A. Austin is on a mission to change the world for the better “one case and one client at a time.” Having won thousands of favorable verdicts, including a landmark $1 billion judgment against global energy giant Exxon Mobil, he has established a reputation as one of the top plaintiff trial lawyers, known for his shrewd strategic approach and uncanny ability to close a deal. After earning his undergraduate degree at Southeastern Louisiana University and a Juris Doctor from Southern University Law School at Baton Rouge, Ron embraced civic responsibility as a political volunteer. His first professional job was with an environmental law firm that handled class action suits. He later sharpened his skills as a prosecutor in the Juvenile and Felony Trial divisions, where he tried nearly 100 jury trials, including the first ever intentional exposure to AIDS criminal case.

Lynne M. Kizis is co-chair of the Wilentz's Mass Tort/Class Action team and has been an attorney at Wilentz since 1989. Practicing at the forefront of complex, mass tort and class action litigation, for over 30 years Ms. Kizis has represented victims of occupational and environmental illness and defective products in trial and appellate courts in New Jersey and in federal courts.Ms. Kizis co-leads the Mass Tort/Class Action team, which has recovered in excess of $2 billion in aggregate settlements and verdicts on behalf of clients. The team was among the first to seek justice against the asbestos industry and big tobacco, and in other pioneering litigation. Among her peers, Ms. Kizis has been distinguished with a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating. She has been consistently ranked in Best Lawyers in America since 2006, including as "Lawyer of the Year" in 2020 and 2022 for Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions - Plaintiffs. She has also been included in Thomson Reuters' Super Lawyers list for Class Action and Mass Tort, and named to its Top 50: Women in New Jersey Super Lawyers list in 2015. In 2020, Ms. Kizis was named to the New Jersey Law Journal's 2020 lists of “Top Women in Law” for her influence in the legal profession and "New Jersey Trailblazers" for her contributions to the advancement of products liability law in New Jersey. The Middlesex County Bar Association honored her with its Civil Trial Practice Award, in recognition of her impact as a lawyer in New Jersey and her dedication to fight for the rights of those injured by toxic exposures and defective products. In addition, NJBIZ recognized her in its 2020 list of New Jersey’s "Best 50 Women in Business" for her contributions in the legal industry and her community.

The Honorable Judge Gary Feinerman has served since September 2010 as a district judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Prior to joining the bench, Feinerman was a partner in the Chicago office of Sidley Austin LLP in the firm’s general litigation and appellate groups. From 2003-2007, Feinerman served as Solicitor General of Illinois in the Office of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Feinerman was a litigation associate and then a partner from 1996-2003 in the Chicago office of the firm now known as Mayer Brown LLP. Earlier in his career, Feinerman served as a law clerk to Justice Anthony Kennedy of the United States Supreme Court and to Judge Joel Flaum of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and also worked for the U.S. Department of Justice as Counsel in the Office of Policy Development and on detail to the Office of the Counsel of the President. He is a graduate of Stanford Law School and Yale College.

Judge Parker was sworn into office on November 4, 2016.  She received a B.A. degree, cum laude, from Duke University in 1989.  In 1992, she received her J.D., cum laude, from Fordham University School of Law, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif.  She was a Notes & Articles Editor for the Fordham Law Review. From November 2000 through October 2016 she was a partner at Proskauer Rose LLP where she practiced labor and employment law and chaired several practice groups including Employment Law Counseling and Training and Government Regulatory Relations and Affirmative Action.  She was associated with the Proskauer firm from October 1993 through October 2000 as an associate. While at Proskauer, she had an active litigation career in cases involving the full gamut of federal, state and local employment laws. She also litigated cases involving fair housing, civil rights, non-compete, contract and employee benefits disputes.

Laura Hines teaches Civil Procedure, Complex Litigation, and Remedies. Her scholarship examines the intersection of procedure and tort law, with a particular focus on aggregate litigation. Hines’s articles have appeared in the George Washington Law Review, Emory Law Journal, Wake Forest Law Review, Indiana Law Journal, and other leading publications. She has consulted or testified as an expert on class certification law in several mass tort class action cases. She currently is the director of the Shook, Hardy & Bacon Center for Excellence in Advocacy. She was named the Centennial Teaching Professor in 2019.

Adam Polk is a partner at Girard Sharp who takes a client-focused approach to each matter he handles. A devoted advocate, Adam rolls up his sleeves and does whatever it takes to give each of his clients the high-quality representation they deserve. Concentrating his practice on complex consumer, securities, and antitrust class actions, Adam’s experience covers all aspects of civil litigation, from initial case investigation and complaint preparation through settlement or trial.

Robin focuses her practice on antitrust/competition law, the False Claims Act, securities law and complex civil litigation. She has significant experience litigating a variety of cases in the biopharmaceutical and health care industries, including class actions and multidistrict litigation. She also regularly counsels clients on antitrust and fraud and abuse issues, and she represents them in those matters before government agencies.

Jeff’s practice focuses primarily on complex litigation, including class action defense, investigations, and appeals.  He works primarily in the consumer products and financial services spaces, but also has experience in several other industries.  He has taken and defended dozens of depositions; drafted hundreds of motions; argued before trial and appellate courts; managed teams of expert witnesses and consultants; negotiated, drafted, and implemented settlement agreements; supervised discovery in large civil disputes and criminal investigations; managed significant internal investigations; negotiated with state and federal prosecutors; and prepared briefing to federal and state courts of appeal and the Supreme Court of the United States. Prior to entering private practice, Jeff served as a law clerk to the Honorable Sandra Ikuta on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The Honorable Andrea Wood has served as a federal judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois since 2013 when she was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. At the time she was sworn in, Judge Wood, then age 40, was the youngest federal judge in the country. Before her appointment, Judge Wood was Senior Trial Counsel at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Enforcement, in Chicago, where she began working as a senior attorney in 2004 before being promoted to senior trial counsel in 2007. Judge Wood also worked as an associate at the Chicago headquarters of Kirkland & Elllis LLP for five years. She began her legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable Diane Wood of the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Judge Wood earned her B.A. from the University of Chicago and her J.D. from Yale Law School.

Judge Tostrud spent his entire career as a practicing lawyer with the Minneapolis firm Lockridge Grindal Nauen. He was an associate with the firm from 1992 to 1997, a partner from 1998 through 2014, and of counsel from 2015 through his appointment to the federal bench. During his time with the firm, Judge Tostrud maintained a complex litigation practice concentrated almost exclusively in the federal courts primarily in the health care, insurance coverage, fraud, and financial services fields. His pro bono service included representing military veterans before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.Judge Tostrud was nominated to the federal bench by President Donald Trump in February 2018. The Senate confirmed his nomination by unanimous voice vote on September 6, 2018, and he was sworn in on September 14.

For most of his career, Dean Morrison worked for the Public Citizen Litigation Group, which he co-founded with Ralph Nader in 1972 and directed for over 25 years. His work involved law reform litigation in various areas including: open government, opening up the legal profession, suing agencies that fail to comply with the law, enforcing principles of separation of powers, protecting the rights of consumers, and protecting unrepresented class members in class action settlements. He has argued 20 cases in the Supreme Court, including victories in Goldfarb v. Virginia State Bar (holding lawyers subject to the antitrust laws for using minimum fee schedules); Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council (making commercial speech subject to the First Amendment); and INS v. Chadha (striking down over 200 federal laws containing the legislative veto as a violation of separation of powers).

Michael Shortnacy focuses his practice on defense of high stakes consumer class actions and regulatory enforcement actions relating to consumer protection statutes. He litigates before state and federal courts in matters involving claims of unfair competition, false and deceptive advertising and other violations of consumer protection laws. Michael has significant experience counseling clients in all aspects of electronic discovery in complex and crisis litigation, and in civil and criminal investigations, and regulatory proceedings. Michael also advises clients on information governance and records management and retention, and compliance with state and federal discovery obligations, before, during and after litigation. Michael regularly designs cost effective and proportional electronic discovery strategies and protocols for clients in the automotive industry. A seasoned litigator, Michael has frequently and successfully argued defensibility of process to courts and special discovery masters, protecting client data and avoiding costs.

Amy directs litigation strategy in large-scale, class-action lawsuits across the U.S., seeking to hold corporations and other entities responsible for privacy violations, breaches of consumer-protection statutes, financial malfeasance, and other misconduct. In the past three years alone, she has negotiated and achieved more than $2 billion in settlement relief for hundreds of millions of consumers.  In 2021, Amy worked collaboratively with other attorneys to create a team to lead a nationwide privacy class action, now hailed as the "most diverse leadership team ever."  Amy is passionate about the environment, privacy, and access to justice, and works collaboratively with other attorneys as a Board and Executive Committee member of the Public Justice Foundation, a Steering Committee member of the Sedona Conference’s Working Group 11 on privacy and technology issues, and an elected member of the American Law Institute.

Fred Fox first associated with Kaplan Fox in 1984 and became a partner in the firm in 1991. For over 30 years, he has concentrated his practice in class action, opt-out and other complex litigation, particularly securities, consumer and antitrust cases. He was one of the lead trial lawyers in two securities class actions, one of which was the first case tried to verdict under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Mr. Fox has been a lead counsel in many major securities class action cases, including as a senior member of the litigation and trial team in In re Bank of America Corp. Securities, ERISA, & Derivative Litigation, No. 09-MDL-2058 (S.D.N.Y.) (“In re Bank of America”).

Over the past 10 years Michael O’Connor has established himself as a national expert on complex settlement administration matters and oversees client relationship development and strategic client communications. He works closely with EpiqGlobal's class action and mass tort team of project managers to ensure consistent, superior client service standards. Based in Washington, DC, Mr. O’Connor also works extensively on Epiq’s contracts with the United States Federal Government, including the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  Currently, Mr. O’Connor also oversees Epiq’s administration of: (a) Peterson v. Islamic Republic of Iran, Case No. 10-CIV-4518 (S.D.N.Y., Hon. L. Preska), a $1.9 billion disbursement to victims of the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut; and (b) In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 1:05-MD-1720 (MKB) (JO) (E.D.N.Y.), a nearly $6 billion settlement brought by all U.S. merchants against Visa and Mastercard.

Aaron Van Oort is a legal strategist and appellate lawyer who co-chairs Faegre Drinker’s appellate advocacy group. A former law clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia and a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, Aaron is a thoughtful, persuasive voice for clients in trial and appellate courts throughout the country. Chambers USA describes him as having “notable prominence and presence in this field.” In trial courts and on appeal, Aaron develops and implements the strategies to defeat class actions. He has defended more than 150 putative class actions and is an editor of the Bolch Judicial Institute’s Guidelines and Best Practices: Implementing 2018 Amendments to Rule 23 Class Action Settlement Provisions (Duke Law School 2018). With Aaron’s representation, clients have compelled arbitration, won dismissal and summary judgment, defeated class certification, and negotiated favorable class and individual settlements. Client who have retained Aaron to defend class actions include the NFL, NHL and MLB; 3M; American Family Insurance; Capital One; General Mills; Google; Jani-King International; Life Time; Post Consumer Brands; Wells Fargo; and U.S. Bank.

Judge Parker was sworn into office on November 4, 2016.  She received a B.A. degree, cum laude, from Duke University in 1989.  In 1992, she received her J.D., cum laude, from Fordham University School of Law, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif.  She was a Notes & Articles Editor for the Fordham Law Review. From November 2000 through October 2016 she was a partner at Proskauer Rose LLP where she practiced labor and employment law and chaired several practice groups including Employment Law Counseling and Training and Government Regulatory Relations and Affirmative Action.  She was associated with the Proskauer firm from October 1993 through October 2000 as an associate. While at Proskauer, she had an active litigation career in cases involving the full gamut of federal, state and local employment laws. She also litigated cases involving fair housing, civil rights, non-compete, contract and employee benefits disputes.

After serving on the University of Chicago Law Review, Professor Roger Trangsrud clerked for Justice Walter Rogosheske of the Minnesota Supreme Court and practiced law with the DC firm of Hogan & Hartson. In 1982, he joined the faculty of the law school, where he has taught civil procedure, federal jurisdiction, remedies, and complex litigation. His writings are primarily in the fields of complex litigation and jurisdiction. Recently, he co-wrote a new casebook, Complex Litigation and the Adversary System, and a treatise on Complex Litigation: Problems in Advanced Civil Procedure.

Mary Massaron, a past president of DRI – The Voice of the Defense Bar, has concentrated her practice in appellate law for over 30 years. A former law clerk to Justice Patricia J. Boyle of the Michigan Supreme Court, she has handled or supervised the handling of over 400 appeals resulting in approximately 150 published opinions, including over 100 appeals in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Ms. Massaron has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America for Appellate Law and has been repeatedly acknowledged as one of the top 100 lawyers, top 50 business lawyers, top 25 women business lawyers, top 50 female lawyers, and top appellate law practitioners by Michigan Super Lawyers. She was recognized as the Best Lawyers 2017 and 2021 Appellate Practice "Lawyer of the Year" in Bloomfield Hills. DBusiness Magazine named her top appellate lawyer for the past five years.

Barbara Hart is a principal at Grant & Eisenhofer and serves on the firm’s Executive Committee. Ms. Hart has nearly three decades of experience as a leader in plaintiffs’ litigation. She has represented institutional investors, including many public pension funds, in securities and antitrust litigation and served as lead counsel in 4 of the top 100 securities class action settlements. Ms. Hart has also achieved substantive antitrust and False Claims Act/Qui Tam settlements on behalf of her clients.

With experience at the highest levels of the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, as well as two decades defending clients in their most significant claims, Jeffrey Jacobson provides a multifaceted and strategic perspective. He has led both the defense and prosecution of major consumer fraud, privacy and securities litigation, and he has represented both sides of investigations conducted by state attorneys general. With this insight, Jeff crafts litigation strategies to resolve matters as beneficially, efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.

Niki has more than 20 years’ experience collaborating with parties and insurers to structure global settlements that achieve their goals in efficient and cost-effective ways. Niki’s experience includes appointment as Vice President Client Strategy & Development of a national legal services administrator, where she served as a neutral third party administering global settlements.

Over the past 10 years Michael O’Connor has established himself as a national expert on complex settlement administration matters and oversees client relationship development and strategic client communications. He works closely with Epiq's class action and mass tort team of project managers to ensure consistent, superior client service standards. Based in Washington, DC, Mr. O’Connor also works extensively on Epiq’s contracts with the United States Federal Government, including the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  Currently, Mr. O’Connor also oversees Epiq’s administration of: (a) Peterson v. Islamic Republic of Iran, Case No. 10-CIV-4518 (S.D.N.Y., Hon. L. Preska), a $1.9 billion disbursement to victims of the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut; and (b) In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 1:05-MD-1720 (MKB) (JO) (E.D.N.Y.), a nearly $6 billion settlement brought by all U.S. merchants against Visa and Mastercard.

Judge Pratter became a federal district court judge in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on June 18, 2004. Before serving on the court Judge Pratter was a partner in and General Counsel of the law firm of Duane Morris LLP, having started her career there in 1975. In practice she frequently represented clients in commercial litigation, ethics matters and professional liability and licensing disputes. A 1975 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a graduate of Stanford University, she is a member of the American Bar Associations Litigation Section and the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Committees on Professional Responsibility and Professional Guidance, and she was chair of the Philadelphia Bar’s Professional Guidance Committee from 2000 through 2001. She is a member of the National Association of Women Judges and serves on various committees within the federal judiciary. Judge Pratter served as the co-chair of the ABA Litigation Sections Committee on Ethics and Professionalism and as the co-chair of the Sections Task Force on the Independent Lawyer. A member and current President of the University of Pennsylvania’s American Inns of Court, she is the author of a number of articles concerning ethics and professional conduct and has presented many programs for practitioners on those and other subjects, including litigation practice and procedures. Prior to becoming a federal judge, she served as a mediator and arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association as well as in ADR programs of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. Judge Pratter was an Overseer of the University of Pennsylvania Law School from 1993 to 1999. She has been and remains active in a host of community and educational activities and is the recipient of various professional organizations awards and honors.

Judge Jed Rakoff has been an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School since 1988, and has served since 1996 as a federal district judge for the Southern District of New York. Judge Rakoff earned a B.A. from Swarthmore College in 1964, an M.Phil. from Oxford University in 1966, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1969. After clerking for Judge Abraham L. Freedman on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, he was an associate at the Debevoise firm (1970-1972); a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (1973-1980), where he was chief of business and securities fraud prosecutions (1978-1980); and a "white-collar" criminal defense lawyer at two large New York firms, Mudge Rose (1980-1990) and Fried Frank (1990-1996). Since going on the bench in 1996, Rakoff has authored over 1500 judicial opinions, and has also frequently sat by designation on the 2nd, 3rd, and 9th U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals. He has co-authored five books, written more than 140 published articles, delivered over 600 speeches, and is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books.

Linda Mullenix holds the Rita and Morris Atlas Chair in Advocacy at the University of Texas School of Law. Professor Mullenix holds M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University in political science and graduated Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude, from the City College of New York. She received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center and practiced appellate litigation in Washington, D.C. She has held appointments as a Supreme Court Fellow at the Federal Judicial Center; was a scholar-in-residence at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Study and Conference Center in Italy; and also held the Fulbright Senior Distinguished Chair in Law in Trento, Italy. She has been a visiting professor at Harvard and Michigan Law Schools. Professor Mullenix has been a professor since 1974, teaching federal civil procedure, mass tort litigation, current issues in class action litigation, transnational class actions, aggregate and class action litigation in a global context, and state class action procedure. She also has taught complex litigation, federal courts, conflicts, professional responsibility, and civil justice reform.

Michael Shortnacy focuses his practice on defense of high stakes consumer class actions and regulatory enforcement actions relating to consumer protection statutes. He litigates before state and federal courts in matters involving claims of unfair competition, false and deceptive advertising and other violations of consumer protection laws. Michael has significant experience counseling clients in all aspects of electronic discovery in complex and crisis litigation, and in civil and criminal investigations, and regulatory proceedings. Michael also advises clients on information governance and records management and retention, and compliance with state and federal discovery obligations, before, during and after litigation. Michael regularly designs cost effective and proportional electronic discovery strategies and protocols for clients in the automotive industry. A seasoned litigator, Michael has frequently and successfully argued defensibility of process to courts and special discovery masters, protecting client data and avoiding costs.

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Rob Shelquist heads up the Lockridge's consumer protection and products liability litigation practice groups. During the course of his career, he has represented individuals, small businesses and corporations in a wide range of civil litigation including defective and mispriced products, securities and ERISA, anti-competitive conduct, privacy, and the use of sharp business practices, fraud, misrepresentations, and other statutory violations in conjunction with the sale of goods and services. Mr. Shelquist has represented plaintiffs as court-appointed counsel and was one of the trial attorneys in two national class actions tried to verdict. In Peterson v. BASF Corp., a judgment in excess of $60 million was paid following a jury verdict, multiple state appellate opinions, and two trips to the U.S. Supreme Court.

As a former Assistant Attorney General in the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General, Ms. Clapp litigated highly publicized consumer protection and antitrust cases. She also worked as an associate attorney in private practice where she focused exclusively on large-scale complex class action litigation in the areas of securities, antitrust, and consumer fraud. While attending law school, Ms. Clapp externed for the Honorable Judge Paul Magnuson, United States District Court, District of Minnesota, and also worked at the U.S. Department of Justice in the Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Section.  Prior to that, she worked on Capitol Hill for former United States Senator Byron Dorgan, which helped fuel her desire to be an advocate for people via principled approaches. Ms. Clapp holds a bachelor's degree from the University of North Dakota and a JD from the University of Minnesota Law School.

Aaron Van Oort is a legal strategist and appellate lawyer who co-chairs Faegre Drinker’s appellate advocacy group. A former law clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia and a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, Aaron is a thoughtful, persuasive voice for clients in trial and appellate courts throughout the country. Chambers USA describes him as having “notable prominence and presence in this field.” In trial courts and on appeal, Aaron develops and implements the strategies to defeat class actions. He has defended more than 150 putative class actions and is an editor of the Bolch Judicial Institute’s Guidelines and Best Practices: Implementing 2018 Amendments to Rule 23 Class Action Settlement Provisions (Duke Law School 2018). With Aaron’s representation, clients have compelled arbitration, won dismissal and summary judgment, defeated class certification, and negotiated favorable class and individual settlements. Client who have retained Aaron to defend class actions include the NFL, NHL and MLB; 3M; American Family Insurance; Capital One; General Mills; Google; Jani-King International; Life Time; Post Consumer Brands; Wells Fargo; and U.S. Bank.

Laura Hines teaches Civil Procedure, Complex Litigation, and Remedies. Her scholarship examines the intersection of procedure and tort law, with a particular focus on aggregate litigation. Hines’s articles have appeared in the George Washington Law Review, Emory Law Journal, Wake Forest Law Review, Indiana Law Journal, and other leading publications. She has consulted or testified as an expert on class certification law in several mass tort class action cases. She currently is the director of the Shook, Hardy & Bacon Center for Excellence in Advocacy. She was named the Centennial Teaching Professor in 2019.

Marc I. Gross has been with Pomerantz LLP for over four decades, serving as its Managing Partner from 2009 to 2016. During that time frame, Marc led securities lawsuits against SAC Capital (Steven Cohen - insider trading); Chesapeake Energy (Aubrey McClendon - insider bail out); Citibank (analyst Jack Grubman - AT&T research report upgrade to facilitate underwriting role); Charter Communications (Paul Allen - accounting fraud); and numerous others. He also litigated the market efficiency issues in the firm’s landmark $3 billion recovery in Petrobras. Marc has been recognized by Super Lawyers® as a “Top-Rated Securities Litigation Attorney” every year from 2013 through 2021. He is currently Senior Counsel to the firm.

Anna St. John is an attorney with the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute. She began working with the Center for Class Action Fairness, which has since moved to HLLI, in March 2015. She has argued appeals before the Second, Seventh, Ninth, and D.C. Circuits and state courts in New York and California, and presented argument to over a dozen federal and state trial courts. Her work has led to the return of over $100 million in settlement funds to class members.

Mr. Lockwood defends corporations, their directors or their advisers in derivative and class action lawsuits in Delaware and throughout the country. He also has extensive experience in commercial litigation. Mr. Lockwood has been repeatedly chosen for Best Lawyers in America and Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. He has also been chosen as a BTI Client Service All-Star.

Elizabeth Cassady is experienced representing global companies and financial institutions in a full slate of business-critical litigation, including securities, breach of contract, antitrust, patent infringement, and employment discrimination. She has represented clients before numerous federal and state courts, Courts of Appeals, the US Supreme Court and the International Trade Commission. She is skilled in handling all stages of litigation, from fact and expert discovery through trial. Liz collaborates with trial teams to quickly develop and deploy winning strategies on complex cases. Additionally, she has an active pro bono practice and has been recognized on the Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll since its inception in 2012.

With two decades of experience prosecuting complex litigation in federal courts, Jim Harrod’s practice focuses on representing institutional investor clients in securities fraud-related matters.  He also leads the BLB&G’s Global Securities and Litigation Monitoring Team, which monitors securities class and group actions around the world, and advises BLB&G’s institutional clients on potential avenues for recovery in those actions.  Over the course of his career, he has obtained over a billion dollars on behalf of investor classes. His high-profile cases include In re Motorola Securities Litigation, in which he was a key member of the team that represented the State of New Jersey’s Division of Investment and obtained a $190 million recovery three days before trial.  Recently, Jim represented the class of investors in the securities litigation against General Motors arising from GM’s recall of vehicles with defective ignition switches, and recovered $300 million for investors – the second largest securities class action recovery in the Sixth Circuit.